Chain rope or belt.



No. 873,208. I Y PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907.

. G. H. BRYAN.

CHAIN ROPE OR BELT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1907.

CLARENCE H. BRYAN; OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CHAIN ROPE OR BELT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.'10, 1907.

Application filed May9.1907. Serial No. 372.771.

V To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LCLARENCE H. BRYAN, a citizen of theUnited States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chain R0 es or Belts, of which the following is a full, 0 ear, and exact specification. 1

My invention is'concernedwith a novel chain-rope, which I have devised to cooperate with sheaves for power-transmission purposes generally, and more especially for use 1n automobiles having frictionrope transmission, where power 1s applied through the rope from asmall drivinlg sheave to a large driving sheave. For suc use, it. is essential to have a rope with the strength of a chain, the elasticity of the rope for its sheave-engaging surface, one that shall be flexible in one plane only, and that shall not be affected by moisture. To this end, I have devised the novel chain-rope, to illustrate which I annex hereto a sheet of drawings, in which the same reference characters are used to designate identical parts in all the figures,-of which,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the rope seen from the sheave-engaging side, and with parts broken away to illustrate the construction thereof; Fi 2 is a similar view of the rope, seen in si e elevation; Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line AA of Fig. 2 showing the rope on a sheave; and Fig. 4 is a similar sectional view on the line BB of Fig. 1.

The basis of my improved rope is a chain, which is preferably a block chain, and may be a sprocket chain. It is made up of blocks a and connectin links I), which are secured by pivots c in the customary manner, and, as is Well known, forms a chain which is extremely strong and flexible in the plane of the sheaves-with which it cooperates, but one that is incapable of lateral flexure, a feature of value in a driving rope, as it tends to prevent the rope being displaced laterally, and consequently getting out of the groove of the sheaves, when the tension is released.

To form a suitable cushioning layer on the side of the chain which engages the s rocket, I preferably employ a pair of ropes .which should be cut into sections not to exceed twelve inches in length, as indicated at e, so

that as the ro e shrinks when. it becomes wet, it will not eave any considerable gap at one point, as would be the case if the rope was continuous throughout its length except at one point. These sections must be se-- cured to the chain in some suitable manner so as not to interfere with its flexibility, and for th s purpose I (preferably employ the wire f, WhlC-ll 1s woun helically about the r0 es and chain, and .which conveniently fits etween the ends of the side links I; in the reduced portions of the blocks a. elastic cushioning surface thus produced, it will be seen that the side of the rope engaging the sheave, which is preferably V-shaped on its interior, as seen in the section 9, can be compressed into the groove so as to engage it very firmly and produce the desired trac- With the i tive effect. A suitable exterior covering 72. is

employed, and for this .purpose I prefer to employ a covering made of a single strip of belting wound helically about the chain and ropes, so as to enable it to yield, compressing on the concave side and opening on the convex side, as is necessary in passing around small sheaves.

I am aware of the structure of the patent to Becker, No. 782479, dated Feb. 14, 1905, and do not claim the same as my invention.

While I have shown and described my invention as embodied in the form which I at present consider bestadapted to carry out its purposes, it will be understood that it is capable of modification, and thatI do not desire to be limited in the interpretation of the followin claims exce t as may be necessitated by t e state of the prior art.

What I claim as new, and desire to 'secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A chain rope, consistin of a chain flexible in a single plane, a cus ioning layer of longitudinally-arranged material on one of the sides in the lane of flexure, means'for securing the cushioning layer on the chain, and a cover surrounding'the chain and cushioning layer.

2. A chain rope, consisting of a chain flexible in a single plane, a cushioning layer of longitudinally-arranged material on one of the sides in the lane of flexure, means for securing the cus 'oning layer on the chain, and a helically-wound covering surrounding the chain .and cushioning layer.

3. A chain-rope, consistin of a chain flexible in one plane only, a cus 'oning layer on the sheave side, a wire wound helically about the chain and cushioning layer to secure the latter to the chain, and a covering surrounding the chain and cushioning layer.

4. A chain-rope, consisting of a chain flexi- 'ble in one plane only, a cushioning layer ble in one plane only, a one 'oning layer on thesheave side consisting of a pair of rope sections, means for sccurlng the cushioning layer'on the chain, and a covering surrounding the chain and cushioning layer.

6. A chain-rope, consistin of a chain flexi ble in one plane only, a cue 'oning layer on the sheave side consisting of a pan of r0 sections, a wire wound helically about t e chain and rope sections to secure the latter to the chain, and a covering surrounding the chain and cushioning layer.

7. A chain-rope, conslstln of a chain flexible in one plane only, a cus 'oning layer on the sheave side consistin of a pair of sections, a wire wound helica ly about the chain and rope sections to secure the latter to the chain, and a helically-wound covering surrounding the chain and cushioning layer.

. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and aflixed my seal, this 6th day of May, A. D. 1907. CLARENCE H. BRYAN. [1,. 8.]

Witnesses:

John HiMcELnor, E. K. MAOGOWAN. 

